VIDEO: Tobii EyeAsteroids eye-controlled arcade game tested!

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Tech Digest headed down to London’s Trocadero arcade yesterday to test out the world’s first eye-controlled coin-op game, the Tobii EyeAsteroids.

No tricks here guys, I’m taking down the killer asteroids with just the movement of my eyes! After a quick calibration test, the game fires up its retro space blasting action, and proves to be on of the most intuitive ways of playing a game I’ve ever experienced.

EyeAsteroids makes use of an infra-red sensor just below the screen which tracks reflections on the surface of your eye, as well as the minute changes in pupil size, to control the direction of your laser blasts. It almost feels like the game is reading your mind, as the way we chose to focus our gaze on items in the world is so closely linked to the lightning-fast way our brain reacts to make decisions and interact.

Headed to laptops and potentially games consoles in 2012, Tobii’s eye-tracking equipment has obvious application for those with disabilities, where the use of limbs to control games or even other computer systems is far less comfortable than merely controlling the movements of eyes.

Tobii EyeAsteroids is available for purchase by companies and individuals, but is limited to a production run of just 50 units, available for $15,000 each.

Tobii’s Anders Olsson talks us through the technology, and his hopes for the future of eye-controlled gaming in the video above.